Throughout the whole book, we always feel the great impression of constraint on Ethan, Mattie and Zeena. One can distinguish several kinds of constraints—it is clear that Zeena is not affected by exactly the same problems as Ethan or Mattie; nevertheless one feels a constant lack of freedom between the characters. A lot of things play a big role on this situation. I will discuss the following problems, explaining how they relate to each …showed first 75 words of 1176 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1176 total…with communicating, and so on, and it is easily understandable that all those things represent a huge pressure on Mattie and the Fromes, particularly on Ethan in his relation with Mattie. It would now be interesting to find out how he manages to bear all these pressures without falling terribly ill or committing suicide again. Maybe the rich fantasy life in which Ethan lives is the only thing that allows him to survive at all...